Tallah chem haul: Prime accused in police net

KOLKATA: In what is being claimed as a major breakthrough in exposing illegal movement of explosives from Odisha and Jharkhand to Bengal, Kolkata Police’s special task force (STF) on Saturday arrested one Mustafa Sheikh alias Boma Mustafa. The arrest, coming barely 12 days prior to the first phase of Lok Sabha election, took over 20 days to be carried out forcing cops to travel through three districts and two states.

Mustafa, hailing from Dantan in West Midnapore, is a prime accused in the recent 1000kg chemical haul (the truck was intercepted on Tallah bridge on March 9). He was arrested from Odisha’s Balasore, where a local court granted him two days’ transit remand. Mustafa was produced in court on Sunday where cops demanded his police custody. Police said Mustafa acted as the middleman in Bengal, who bought various explosives from Odisha-based dealer Sukanta Sahu, who reportedly had no permission from the local district magistrate to sell the potassium nitrate seized at Tallah. “During the probe, we came to know that this was Mustafa’s family business. His father was initially involved but Mustafa gradually spread his empire across four districts of Bengal. He became the virtual go-to guy for criminals looking for explosives,” said an STF source.